The present invention generally relates to electronic vacuum devices and, more particularly, relates to vacuum cleaners having sensor-triggered, automated operations.
For many years, cleaning implements—e.g., brooms, rags, dusters—have not significantly changed. In fact, the basic tools for cleaning houses, offices, and other indoor and outdoor areas were long ago designed and commercialized. Over the last several decades, electronically operated cleaning devices have been invented. For example, electrically driven vacuum cleaners, and the like, have been known for a good number of years. Certain improvements and added features have been designed for these devices, but the basic concepts of the conventional cleaning devices remain as long ago conceived.
Over the last several decades, the various new improvements and added features for cleaning tools have typically regarded improved chemical and solvent-type formulas, better absorption and gathering cloths and other materials, and further automation of existing cleaning implements. With even these improvements and additions, however, manpower is nevertheless typically required to operate the tools and perform cleaning activities. Only recently, an objective of further automation in vacuum-equipped cleaning devices has been to limit the manpower required in cleaning processes.
For example, the recently newly available ROOMBA™ vacuum cleaner attempts to reduce the manpower required for performing vacuum cleaning. This vacuum cleaner unit includes drive motors and features to enable the vacuum device to automatedly traverse a surface and concurrently vacuum the surface. Notwithstanding nuances of the ROOMBA™ product, reducing manpower and human involvement has not usually been the primary focus of development of new cleaning tools. Rather, new development efforts for cleaning tools have largely focused on improved chemicals and materials, and automated cleaning—but not substantial elimination of manpower in cleaning operations.
Conventionally, sweeping as a cleaning process has required a human to handle a broom and dustpan. The human manually sweeps with the broom to collect refuse strewn over an entire surface. The collected refuse is manually gathered, including by sweeping with the broom, into the dustpan. The refuse swept into the dustpan is then manually carried and disposed in a separate location, such as in a trash repository or can. The manual collection and gathering typically requires the human to twist, lean, bend-over, and otherwise make somewhat tortuous body movements and bends.
It would be a significant improvement in the art and technology to further automate cleaning processes, such as certain of the manual efforts required for sweeping, collecting, gathering, and disposing of refuse via broom and dustpan. Additionally, it would be such an improvement to particularly automate those efforts that normally require the greatest manpower and most significant bodily capabilities and efforts. Moreover, it would be a significant improvement in the art and technology to provide simplified steps and procedures for such automated cleaning processes, particularly, including desirable switching among and between various levels or modes of manual involvement in the processes and of automated capabilities, performance, and options. The present invention provides numerous advantages and improvements, including, for example, automation of certain cleaning processes, reduced manpower requirements in such processes, and additional capabilities and modes for performing the processes.